File-sharing Site 'The Pirate Bay' Acquired, Going Legit

Like Napster before it, torrent site The Pirate Bay--notorious for its use as a hub for online piracy--has been acquired by a legitimate company, and its traffic will now be leveraged to sell legitimate content.

Internet cafe company Global Gaming Factory paid $7.8 million for the site. The company will "introduce models which entail that content providers and copyright owners get paid for content that is downloaded via the site," according to CEO Hans Pandeya.

Following a highly publicized court battle in Sweden, the owners of The Pirate Bay were sentenced to one year in prison and fines of $905,000 each in April.

According to the Pirate Bay blog, profits from the sale will "go into a foundation that is going to help with projects about freedom of speech, freedom of information and the openess of the nets."

"We've been working on this project for many years," wrote the owners. "It's time to invite more people into the project, in a way that is secure and safe for everybody. We need that, or the site will die."